Key Brain Molecule May Play Role in Many Brain Disorders miragenews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from miragenews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
E-Mail
IMAGE: Right, miRNA29-deficient mice showing a marked increase in the important enzyme DNMT3A (bright light blue). view more
Credit: Deshmukh Lab, UNC School of Medicine
CHAPEL HILL, NC - A team led by scientists at the UNC School of Medicine identified a molecule called microRNA-29 as a powerful controller of brain maturation in mammals. Deleting microRNA-29 in mice caused problems very similar to those seen in autism, epilepsy, and other neurodevelopmental conditions.
The results, published in
Cell Reports, illuminate an important process in the normal maturation of the brain and point to the possibility that disrupting this process could contribute to multiple human brain diseases.